Ah, the dawg days of summer. The Michigan Wolverines are ranked #10 in the pre-season ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll. Analyzing what it means to be number 10 is mind boggling. Granted, it is only the preseason poll. Much of the polling can be attributed to school prestige, and moreover, not having a major conference like the Big Ten represented in the top ten would be unheard of. By process of elimination, and by recently being named as the preseason media favorite in the Big Ten, we get the nod. What an opportunity we have been presented with. Granted, by virtue of it still being the pre-season, every 1A team controls its own destiny, but our path to the BCS...don't laugh just yet...seems to be a "maize" bricked road.

So, here is who is in front of us: Miami, Texas, Oklahoma, Florida State, Tennessee, Colorado, Florida, Nebraska, and Washington.

#1: Miami, #4: Florida State, #7 Florida, #5 Tennessee

#1 Miami plays Florida, Florida State, Tennessee. Can they win all three of these? #7 Florida plays Tennessee, Miami, and Florida State. Somebody has to lose. #4 Florida State plays Miami and Florida, as mentioned above. #5 Tennesse is the only exception...only playing Florida.

Confused yet? Too crazy a scenario for you yet? Were left with one more team #9 Washington. Defeat the Huskies, and your guaranteed to be at least #8. That's #8 after game 1. The top eight teams...those are your BCS teams. Even a less than #8 ranking can get you into the Rose Bowl with a Big Ten Championship. Ya, I'm taking alot for granted here, and I'm not saying I even believe that the Wolverines are a national power. We have to win the games. But you can't be disappointed with the position we find ourselves in going into the season...on paper, and if we win the first few games, the national spotlight will start to burn a little brighter as the Wolverines crack into the single digit area.

The Rest

With 8 home games, Ohio State comes in at #12. Sparty is #18. Wisconsin and Penn State, despite sub .500 records last season, are #23 and #24 respectively. Utah, #20 in Athlon Sports preseason rankings, has 44 votes, good enough for 38th place in the poll. To put that in perspective, Purdue received 45 votes, Notre Dame received 18 votes, Iowa received 11, and Minnesota just 2. Not quite the pushover you were looking for.

Upcoming

The X-Box is plugging away, determining the season preview for UMTailgate.com. Look for that next week.